Surgery

From as long as history has been recorded there have been attempts by mankind to treat hair loss. The modern hair loss restoration treatments are both surgical and medical. Medical treatments include Propecia for men as well as Rogaine for both men and women and a newer treatment of low level laser light therapy.

Laser Light Therapy

Laser Light Therapy

Low Laser Light Therapy for hair loss is a non-surgical technique that is claimed to work by supplying energy to the scalp in the form of non-thermal photons of light so that the scalp can absorb this external energy on a cellular level and transform light energy into chemical energy. The body then uses the chemical energy to accelerate the normal healing rate of tissue for a wide range of ailments including hair loss.

Laser Light Therapy differs from hair transplant surgery. Hair transplant or hair replacement surgery involves taking hair from one part of the scalp where hair tends to grow for a lifetime (back and sides of the scalp) and transplanting it into areas of the scalp where hair has stopped growing. Surgical hair replacement is a more successful method than laser therapy and usually results in the newly transplanted hair growing for a lifetime.

Laser Hair Transplant Versus Micro-Blade Hair Transplant

Laser Hair Tranplant

There are two types of hair transplant surgery. Laser hair transplants involve the use of a laser to create the holes or slits for the grafts  (containing the hair follicles) to be inserted into; the other involves a micro blade to create the holes. The use of the laser is solely for this purpose and should not be confused with the process of harvesting or graft dissection. Laser hair replacement surgery should also not be confused with low level laser light therapy which is a non-surgical hair loss method.

While laser hair transplant surgery appears to be a more advanced method than transplanting hair using a Micro blade there are a number of disadvantages to using lasers over the more traditional method of reinserting the follicles into the scalp using a micro blade.

Firstly the lasers create a hole by vaporizing tissue. The area that the laser acts upon is destroyed. Because of this, the laser method can be extremely painful unless local anaesthesia is administered.

Preliminary results suggest that when the laser sites are compared to sites made with conventional surgery some patients have shown less hair yield in some of the laser grafts. According to Dr. Unger, when making conventional slit sizes with the laser, "we are close to an unacceptable width of thermal damage."

The laser hair restoration technique has the added detrimental effect of sealing off the microvasculature. Another problem created by the laser is the destruction of dermal collagen and elastic fibers. This can result in a decrease in normal skin elasticity and, as a result, grafts have an increased tendency to fall out from laser-made sites.

When laser technology improves, laser sites become smaller, and the problem of thermal damage is adequately addressed the laser method may become a more valuable tool.

Hair Transplant Surgery Today

Hair transplant surgery has come a tremendous way from the earlier days and unfortunately many people still associate hair transplants as being plugs or cornrows when in reality it is very different to that. In fact of all the plastic surgery procedures performed, today the results of hair transplants are probably as natural, if not more natural than just about any other aesthetic procedure.

Why does it look so natural?
Today we are able to transplant grafts from hairs that grow naturally in the scalp. Micro grafts can be transplanted which are essentially one, two or three hairs and these are placed into very tiny recipient sites. As many as 3,500 or 4,000 grafts can be transplanted in a single procedure thus creating very impressive results for patients that have hair loss.

How Permanent Is a Hair Transplant?

It’s permanent says Dr Jeffrey S. Epstein, M.D., FACS, Founder and Director of the Foundation for Hair Restoration – “so long as it continues to grow in the back of the head where the donor hair was obtained from its going to continue to grow wherever its transplanted.” That means that hair taken from the back of the scalp and placed into the frontal or mid scalp will start to grow at around 3 months to 4 months after the procedure and then from the rest of that individuals lifetime these hairs will continue to grow just as if they were growing in the back of the scalp.

What can happen and typically does happen due to the nature of male and female pattern hair loss is that surrounding hair, the non transplanted but original hairs, will eventually undergo male or female pattern hair loss and they will fall out. So the transplants will be permanent but the original hairs will fall out so that there will be thinning in the years ahead. This is why some patients decide to have a second procedure.

What Is the Success Rate of Hair Transplants?

This is a great procedure because performed properly the success rate is incredibly high. For example according to Dr. Jeffrey Epstein, “of over 6,500 procedures preformed our success rate, measured in terms of patient satisfaction, is that over 98% of our patients convey that they are very or extremely happy with their results”.

Why is the success rate so high?
Well it’s a very straight forward procedure that involves taking hair from the back of the scalp and putting it into areas where there is a lack of hair. Once put there 90% of the hair should grow, and sometimes as high as 95%. When they grow the patient is going to look better and if it is done properly it’s going to look natural, aesthetically pleasing and therefore undetectable. Overall this is a great procedure with a very high level of patient satisfaction.

Hair Transplant Side Effects

Much like any plastic surgery procedure, side effects can be reduced when it is performed properly. The goal of a hair transplant procedure is to have it look natural and have good density with no evidence of any scarring.

Obviously there are some surgeons and some surgical techniques that come closer to achieving those goals than others. Performed properly a hair transplant should look and feel undetectable. However if not performed properly, and sometimes in certain patients for reasons beyond the control of the surgeon, there are less than perfect results that can occur and some of them include poor growth and poor density. That is usually due to improper handling of these very delicate micro-graphs. There can be some widening of the scar in the back of the head. Also some patients just heal differently than others. According to Dr Jeffrey S. Epstein “over 90% of patients should have a donor sight scar less than 2 millimeters wide”.

There is a relatively new technique called Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) which avoids the making of an incision. Instead each graph is removed one at a time using a very tiny 0.8 millimetre punch. Side effects can include the loss of existing hair which is usually due to a poor technique, over aggressiveness, and the resulting trauma to the existing hairs which can cause them to shed or fall out. Also the appearance of the scalp where the hair transplants were placed can show signs that the technique was not properly performed.

Advantages & Disadvantages of Hair Transplants

What are the advantages and disadvantages that a patient needs to consider before undergoing hair transplant surgery? Well the main advantage is quite obvious. If you have hair loss on areas of your scalp or your body, then a hair transplant when performed properly will solve that problem.

The side effects of having more hair will be an increase in confidence, increase sociability. Those are things that come from patients that are more comfortable having the head of hair they once had.

What are the disadvantages? Well there is a cost involved and if you get it done by a top surgeon it is not a cheap procedure. But of course if it is not properly performed then a big disadvantage would be walking around for the rest of your life with an unnatural result.

According to the ABC-affiliated television station WPBF 25, hair transplants cost between $4,000 and $12,000. Propecia costs between $170 and $190 for a 3-month supply and Rogaine/Minoxidil $20 to $40 for a 2-month supply. Hair replacement cost is going to vary depending on your geographic area, the amount of hair you want transplanted and the clinic’s costs. An affordable hair transplant is only affordable if it is within your budget and you believe the procedure is worth the cost.

Overall if you do your homework and find a top surgeon you are going to have the type of result that is going to be rewarding and provide you with a lot of happiness.

How to Care After a Hair Transplant

After a hair transplant has been performed there is not much you need to do. Once you leave the clinic you can leave with a bandana on your head to conceal what was done. You will be able to start wearing a base ball cap the very next day.

After you go home you should take it easy. It is fine to go out to dinner and walk around but you should not do too much physical activity.

The next day after hair replacement surgery, if you live close to the hair replacement clinic you should be able to go back and have your hair washed. You will then be able to go out in public and in many cases just wear a base ball cap.

Patients can shower the day after the procedure and they can start to wash their hair themselves starting on the third post procedure day.

On the 5th day after the procedure you should be able to wash your hair yourself without any restriction. Normal exercise is permitted with the exception of swimming. On the 6th day after the procedure there is not much that needs to be done. If self absorbing stitches were used then those stitches will simply absorb by themselves.

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